


Do Martians Celebrate Christmas?

by xXdreameaterXx



Category: The Expanse (TV), The Expanse Series - James S. A. Corey
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21804130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xXdreameaterXx/pseuds/xXdreameaterXx
Summary: Holden decides that he wants to celebrate Christmas on the Roci, but not everyone is equally excited about the prospect - especially not Chrisjen Avasarala. Will the Roci crew get their hilarious, sappy Christmas or will the plan end in disaster?
Relationships: Amos Burton & Clarissa Mao, Bobbie Draper & Alex Kamal, Jim Holden/Naomi Nagata
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	1. Holden

**Author's Note:**

> I was in a very Christmassy mood and I'm also incapable of stopping myself from re-reading the books, so enjoy a little Christmas fluff and fun :)

**Holden**

There was a question burning on Holden’s mind, but in between trying to rescue everyone from the Protomolecule and the aftermath that had followed, there was never time to actually ask it. Decades later, the same question kept popping into his head, always late at night when everyone else was already asleep, only to be gone again by morning. But now, as a certain date was drawing near once more on his home planet, Holden felt the lack of it weigh heavy on his heart. It wasn’t so much that it was missing, but maybe it would add something to the family he had found out here. Or the same family would laugh at him and call him silly. For everyone else, it seemed to be a completely ordinary evening as they sat in the galley and ate their lasagne. Alex had tried a new recipe and it was good, but Holden still found himself looking forward to their upcoming visit to Earth. After their meeting with Avasarala, there would be time for a dinner that involved real cheese. Yet as they approached his home planet, Holden felt his thoughts drift back to the same subject over and over again, the question burning on his lips. He knew he had to ask.

Glancing up across the table, he found Amos and Clarissa sitting on the other side, his fellow Earthers. Were they thinking about it as well? Clarissa must have been. Holden wasn’t sure about Amos.

“Do Martians celebrate Christmas?”

The words escaped his mouth before he could think better of it and the table conversation, whatever it was about, came to an abrupt stop. While Naomi knitted her eyebrows at his admittedly random question, Amos looked as impassive as ever. Clarissa’s expression was impossible for him to read. Was she sad? Excited? Nostalgic? Holden was unable to tell. However, the two Martians sitting at the table, Alex and Bobbie, exchanged a brief glance, obviously taken aback by his sudden question. When they turned back towards him, Holden thought he saw a brief flash of excitement in Alex’s eyes. 

Yet it was Bobbie who answered with a shrug. “Sure we do,” she said. “I mean, our ancestors came from Earth at some point, so they brought their traditions with them. It’s not that big of a deal, though. We mainly do it for the children. My nephew used to be obsessed with Christmas carols when he was a kid.”

“Sure,” Alex threw in. “Melas loved it. Why are you asking?”

Holden opened his mouth to respond, but Naomi cut him off before he had a chance.

“We don’t celebrate it in the Belt,” she said gruffly. Whenever the touched the subject of Earth, there was hostility in Naomi’s voice, even after she had travelled with several Earthers for decades. Some old animosities never truly went away, even after everything that had happened, even after the ring gates, even after her fellow Belters had come so far. “It’s a silly Earth tradition that has as little value to us as we to them.”

“A-fucking-men,” Amos agreed and raised his bulb as if to make a point.

While he sipped his drink, Holden felt his mouth fall open in sheer disbelief. Amos was an Earther, just like him, and yes, his friend had a difficult past, but a part of Holden had always just assumed that everyone on Earth celebrated Christmas in some form or another. Despite having religious roots, it had become a family holiday more than an expression of a certain faith.

“Are you saying you never once celebrated Christmas?” Holden found himself asking, his eyes wandering back and forth between Amos and Naomi.

Amos shook his head. Naomi didn’t even respond.

“You’re from Earth,” he insisted. “You must have celebrated it in some way.”

“Not where I come from,” the mechanic just said with a shrug.

Holden could do nothing but watch as Amos put his bulb down and continued to eat his dinner as if the previous conversation had never taken place at all. Then, he realised that there was another voice, hardly audible over the clatter of cutlery.

“Christmas used to be my favourite time of the year as a child,” Clarissa said. Still, Holden couldn’t say whether she sounded sad or nostalgic. “It was magical. Father bought the biggest Christmas trees he could find and the lights illuminated the entire house.”

“You mean mansion,” Amos remarked dryly.

Despite the interruption, Clarissa carried on. “My siblings and I would sneak downstairs during the night, trying to catch Santa in the act, but the only people we ever caught were the servants. They kept saying Santa had asked them to put the presents under the tree for him because he was in a hurry and then sent us back to bed.”

“I’m sure Christmas is very nice when you’re rich, Peaches.”

“You don’t have to be rich to enjoy Christmas,” Holden jumped to Clarissa’s defence. “My parents were never rich, but we could grow our Christmas trees on our own land and each year, we decorated it together. As a family. Mother Elisa was the organiser. She’d tell me and father Caesar and father Dimitri where to put which ornament. Mother Tamara and father Tom sang Christmas carols as we worked. Father Joseph was always the one to choose which tree we’d use. We weren’t rich, but it was no less magical.”

When Holden looked around the table, he couldn’t help but notice the mixed reactions of his crew. Naomi and Amos continued to eat their food as if the rest of them weren’t even there, Bobbie observed the situation with a mild curiosity, Clarissa had an almost dreamy look on her face by now and Alex, well, Alex was beginning to shift in his seat, beaming excitedly at him. It was obvious that there was something he desperately wanted to say. To relieve the pilot of whatever he was trying to get out, Holden gestured towards him, fearing that Alex might burst otherwise.

“We should celebrate Christmas,” the pilot announced, an almost childlike look of glee in his expression. “The lot of us. Together. On the Roci.”

Somehow, that was exactly what Holden had hoped to hear, that was exactly what he himself wanted, to celebrate his favourite season together with all the people he loved most. He found himself smiling back at Alex. “I think that is a wonderful idea. We should do it.”

Even Clarissa smiled in response to that.

“I have an even better idea,” Bobbie remarked while she stuffed another fork full of lasagne into her mouth. “Avasarala asked us to send her a list of things we need for the ship when we land. 

Let’s add some tinsel and Christmas ornaments to it and have the old lady pay for the whole thing.”

Holden chuckled at the mental image of Chrisjen Avasarala reading a shopping list that involved ship parts and Christmas decorations. Somehow, he knew that she would find it amusing. “Let’s do that, then. Everyone on board?”

Alex grinned in response. Bobbie nodded. Finally, Clarissa showed an expression he could actually understand and it looked like gratefulness. When Holden turned his gaze towards Amos, the mechanic only shrugged.

“Do what you gotta do, Cap, but don’t expect me to decorate this ship with tinsel when I’ve got an actual job to do.”

Holden turned his head towards Naomi who was stabbing her lasagne with her fork without actually eating it. “Naomi?”

With a sigh, she put the cutlery down and looked at him. “I don’t celebrate Earth traditions,” she replied harshly. Then, her features softened a little. “But if it makes you happy, you can decorate the ship to your heart’s desire as long as your baubles don’t get in the way of anything important.”

Grinning, Holding sat up straight and dropped his hands on the table with a sound. “Great. We celebrate Christmas and send the bill for that to Avasarala.”

“Chrissie is gonna be _very_ happy about this,” Amos added, mumbling with his mouth full of lasagne. The sarcasm was still audible.


	2. Bobbie

**Bobbie**

“Red and gold baubles, Christmas crackers, speculoos, Nariman Dynamics 40mm PDCs,” Avasarala read their list in a harsh, impatient tone and then looked up. Her eyes glared right through the screen. “Is this a fucking joke?”

Bobbie suppressed a chuckle, determined to keep a straight face during the entire conversation. She was the lucky one. Right after finishing their shopping list for Chrisjen Avasarala, an argument had broken out about who should be the one to deliver it. Holden, Amos and Bobbie had all volunteered at the same time because everyone wanted to see the look on the old lady’s face when she discovered their unusual request. Bobbie had won the arm wrestling competition, but she knew that both Holden and Amos were listening in behind the closed door. She would show them the entire recording later, but for now, Bobbie Drape had a job to do.

“No, Ma’am,” Bobbie confirmed as gravely as if it had been a completely ordinary request. “We sat together as a crew and talked about what we needed. That’s our list right there.”

She nodded towards the screen, towards the list on Avasarala’s terminal, and smiled the most innocent smile she could muster.

“Former Gunnery Sergeant Robert Draper of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force,” the old lady hissed, “do you honestly consider _tinsel_ to be indispensable for the safe journey of your vessel?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Bobbie nodded, still fighting back the laughter that was desperately trying to get out. “And I remember you offering to supply us with anything we need the next time we stopped by your planet.”

Avasarala narrowed her eyes at Bobbie for a long moment, but eventually, her features relaxed and the old lady smiled. For some strange reason, Bobbie was fond of her and she knew that Avasarala was fond of her as well, so she repaid the smile.

“Of course I did,” the old lady confirmed. When she continued, her voice was dripping with sarcasm. “Will synthetic mistletoe suffice or does it have to be the real thing?”

Bobbie wiped the smile off her face and straightened her back to look at the old woman on the screen, giving her another moment to finish her sentence just in case the lag cut off her response. “Synthetic mistletoe should be fine, Ma’am.”

“And is there anything else you need? Nicely wrapped presents for the whole damn crew? A tree? A Santa Claus costume custom-tailored to James Holden?”

At last, Bobbie cracked and she could no longer suppress the chuckle. “If you have one that fits him, I’m sure he’ll be happy to wear it.”

Avasarala glared at her through the screen, but if Bobbie wasn’t entirely mistaken, she spotted a hint of amusement in the old lady’s eyes. She could be a stone-cold bitch when she needed to be, but that didn’t mean she had lost her sense of humour. Bobbie always thought that Chrisjen Avasarala viewed the Roci crew as an occasionally useful nuisance she was strangely fond of.

“I will still see you and Holden for dinner, I assume?”

Bobbie nodded with a smile.

“Just the two of you,” Avasarala insisted. “I don’t have the patience for anyone else from your damned crew and if either Burton or the Mao girl set foot on my planet, there will be a special forces team waiting for them.”

“Understood, Ma’am,” the Martian agreed. Then, something else came to her mind. “But-”

“But what? Spit it out, Bobbie, I don’t have all day.”

Since Avasarala’s impatience was beginning to show, Bobbie decided to make it quick. “Amos told me he says hi,” she said, deciding to leave out the rest of the message.

The old lady’s eyes narrowed down to two, small slits. “I’m assuming he said a lot more than hi, so tell him he can fuck off,” Avasarala replied and the screen went black. The connection had been ended by the other side.

“Well, that’s wasn’t very nice of Chrissie,” Amos complained only seconds later as he and Holden entered the room, though it wasn’t so much a complaint as a statement about something expected.

Bobbie shouldn’t have been surprised that they had been eavesdropping, but at least the brief illusion of privacy would have been nice.

“Look at the bright side,” Holden remarked with a shrug. “We’re getting our Christmas supplies. Though I think we should check the parcels for explosives or sheep dung.”

Bobbie grimaced.

“Sheep dung?” Amos asked, both of his eyebrows raised high. “Is that how you deliver threats in Montana? Cause in Baltimore, we definitely use explosives.”

“Let’s hope it’s neither one of those things,” Bobbie said and made her way towards the door, passing through the captain and the mechanic. Once she had reached the exit, she turned back towards the two men. “Well? We’ve got a landing to prepare for.”


	3. Naomi

**Naomi**

The inventory list was long and Naomi assumed it would take her all day to check it against all the boxes that had been brought on board by Avasarala’s lackeys. If anything was missing, it was better they noticed it now before they went back down to pick up Jim and Bobbie. With her nose buried deep in the first list, Naomi never even heard the door slide open and she wasn’t aware of the mechanic’s presence until he spoke.

“Looks like we’re set for the next year,” Amos noted. “Unless someone starts another war or something.”

Naomi looked up and smiled in his direction, but Amos was so focused on opening the first box that he never even noticed. Then, he pulled out a round, golden sphere and held it up. It dangled gently between his strong fingers.

“Then again, we could probably shoot ornaments at them.”

“Very threatening,” Naomi growled. The urge to knock the silly glass ball out of his hand was tempting, but she resisted it as best as she could. She pictured it shatter in her mind instead, not quite as satisfying, but enough for now. When Naomi turned away from him, her eyes were fixed on the list again. “I just don’t get this nonsense.”

“It’s Christmas,” Amos said. Even though she couldn’t see him, the shrug of his big shoulders was audible. “It’s like the number one holiday on Earth.”

“You don’t celebrate it,” she argued.

As Naomi went to open another box, the first thing she spotted was something red and glittery. She closed the lid with a loud bang.

“Yeah, well, I grew up in Baltimore. Didn’t exactly have a cosy home with a family who loved me, so… That’s kind of the deal about Christmas.”

“Christmas is about love and warmth and forgiveness,” a small voice said from the direction of the door. When Naomi looked up, she spotted Clarissa standing in the frame. Most Earther women looked small to her, but Clarissa Mao particularly so. Wherever she went, she always seemed a little lost inside a room, even if the room belonged to a confined space such as the Roci. Most days, Clarissa wore an unreadable expression on her face, a mask that she only dropped for Amos if she dropped it at all. But ever since Jim had made the suggestion to celebrate Christmas, her mood had shifted and Naomi saw her reluctant smile more often. “It’s about family, too, yes, about coming together with the people you love most. All those little fights you had during the year, that bit of resentment, it doesn’t matter. On Christmas, even if it’s just for a day, you share a nice meal and leave it all behind. It’s that one day of the year where you feel like everything is going to be okay. There’s just peace and love and nothing else.”

Naomi glanced at Amos and for a moment, she was afraid that he would be himself and say something mean, but he didn’t. Instead, he reached into the box and retrieved a golden garland. For the big Earther, Clarissa was merely two strides away before he could drape the decoration around her neck.

“You got it, Peaches,” he said.

When Clarissa smiled, Naomi felt something tug at her insides and she thought she understood why this silly holiday meant so much to her. And to Jim. Clarissa hadn’t been on the Roci from the start, she hadn’t fallen into this life like she or Jim or Alex or Amos had. She had stepped into their lives by trying to murder them and even though, after so much time, Naomi barely thought about it anymore, it must have been on Clarissa’s mind constantly. Of course, having her on board had been weird at first, but the Earther woman had grown on them eventually as much as that was possible. Amos and Clarissa mostly kept to themselves, tinkering with the Roci and fixing it, so maybe Clarissa didn’t know how everyone else felt about her. Maybe she thought that she was still resented and distrusted even though she had long moved on to being a valued crew member. If Christmas was how she could feel closer to the rest of them, then it wasn’t Naomi’s place to deny her that. As for Jim, the kind of thing Clarissa had described just sounded like him. Love, peace, forgiveness, that was what the man she loved was all about.  
Maybe it was time to put her hatred of everything that came from Earth aside for a couple of days. It didn’t matter that Christmas seemed silly to her and Amos, if he could pull himself together for those of them who were excited about it, then so could she.

Naomi smiled back at Clarissa. “You got it,” she confirmed.


	4. Alex

**Alex**

Holden was full of good ideas. Well, occasionally bad ones, too. Like that time he had logged Julie Mao’s distress call. Or that time he had made a broadcast about Mars blowing up the Canterbury. Or that time he had boarded the Agatha King. Or that time he had piloted the Roci through the ring. Or that time he had gone to an alien station and stuck his hands where they didn’t belong. Or that time he had agreed to go to Ilus because Avasarala and a voice in his head had told him that was where they wanted him to go. Actually, maybe the bad ideas outweighed, but celebrating Christmas together with the rest of the Roci crew was definitely not one of those and Alex felt as excited as a kid. He had always loved Christmas even though he would never admit to the full extent of it in front of everyone else. The truth was, however, that the all those decorations they had put up around the Roci filled him with warmth and joy and not even Amos’s grumbling and Naomi’s snarky comments could ruin that for him.

“You do realise that these things will fly off and hit us right in the face if we start to burn?” Naomi had argued.

Well, she wasn’t wrong about that and they would certainly have to store the decorations someplace safe once they continued their journey, but right now, they were still in orbit around Earth, circling leisurely around the planet at half a g. Once everyone had finished putting up the decor, Alex had retreated to the galley to make use of some of the things Holden and Bobbie had brought back from their brief trip down the well. Fresh ingredients weren’t something they could get in space, so Alex decided to use the eggs, flour and butter as best as he could.

“Mhhh, something smells _good_ ,” Bobbie’s voice hummed.

When Alex turned around, his fellow Martian had already crossed the galley and picked up one of the Christmas cookies from the tray. Even though it was still hot, Bobbie stuffed it into her mouth before Alex could stop her. Not that he ever had a chance of stopping Bobbie from doing anything given her size and the strength of her muscles.

“Hey,” he complained nonetheless, “these are for everyone.”

“Just checking to see if they’re good,” Bobbie replied with her mouth full of Christmas biscuit. “Wouldn’t want to serve the crew bad cookies.”

Alex glowered at her in response, but he had always found it impossible to be mad at Bobbie. While the rest of the Roci crew was his family, Bobbie was his best friend and he loved her more than anything else in the world. Maybe it was their shared origin that made it so easy for him to talk to her, that kind of invisible bond that formed simply by coming from the same place and finding themselves out here in the depths of space. Maybe Bobbie was just Bobbie and that was why he loved her.

“You can help me with the rest,” Alex suggested, “if you like.”

Bobbie raised an eyebrow at him and looked as if he had just suggested she stopped a missile with her hands and no other help but her power armour. “You want _me_ to help with the baking? Alex, I’m excellent with a gun or in a fistfight, but now is probably a good time to tell you that I’ve never actually developed kitchen skills. My talents start and stop at warming up a ready-made meal.”

In response, Alex chuckled to himself. “Well, you can use your fists to knead this dough,” he said and dropped a large chunk of it in front of Bobbie. “There is nothing you could possibly screw up about this.”

He often forgot about the fact that Bobbie towered over him, but as she glowered at Alex from above, he suddenly felt the urge to take a step back. Was he out of line to suggest that Bobbie helped in the kitchen? The last thing he wanted was to offend her.

Then, too fast for him to actually process what was happening, Bobbie reached for the counter and flicked some of the flour right at him, laughing heartily.

“It’ll be on your head, sailor.”

“Hey!” Alex complained once he had understood what was happening. His jumpsuit was covered in white spots and his best friend was still laughing at him, so Alex did the only thing he could think of. He responded in kind and blew some of the flour back at her.

Bobbie gasped in feigned shock. “You’re going to pay for that.”

When Alex ducked under her next move, it occurred to him that it might be a while before their Christmas cookies were done, but he wasn’t going to complain about it. After all, friends and family teasing each other was just the kind of Christmas spirit he had been craving.


	5. Amos

**Amos**

The mechanic had glanced around the corner and decided it was not the moment for him to interrupt. Even though he felt a little hungry, it was better to spend an hour in the machine shop before making another attempt at grabbing a bite. However, he had only managed a couple of steps before he almost bumped into Clarissa.

“Oh, hey,” Amos said and swiftly put himself in her path. “I wouldn’t go into galley just now, Peaches.”

Clarissa raised an eyebrow at him. “Why?”

Amos shrugged. “The Martians are having a moment,” he said as if that would explain the crazy things he had just seen. “Don’t know. Maybe some kind of weird Martian mating ritual, but they were throwing ingredients around.”

Even though she hadn’t seen the mess Alex and Bobbie had created in the galley, the thought made Clarissa laugh. “I don’t think you’re an expert on Martian mating rituals.”

“Might’ve been with one or two in my lifetime,” he replied with another shrug. “Not sure. Don’t usually ask.”

Still chuckling, Clarissa placed her hand on his shoulder and together they headed back down the corridor, both deciding at the same time that they galley was a place to avoid for the time being. They could come back later once Alex and Bobbie had finished doing whatever they were doing. Even though Amos wasn’t exactly an expert on emotions, he could tell that something about Clarissa has changed ever since Holden had made that weird suggestion about Christmas. She seemed lighter, happier, and an almost childlike look of joy was permanently etched into her face.

“Listen,” Amos started but then didn’t quite know what else to say. He knew what he was trying to accomplish, but the words that connected his intention to his goal eluded him.

Luckily for him, Clarissa seemed to feel what he was trying to do. “I appreciate you doing this for me,” she replied to words he hadn’t even spoken. “I know you don’t care about any of it, so it means a lot to me that you’re at least tolerating it.”

Amos nodded slowly. He would like to understand, but he wasn’t even sure he could.

“Christmas reminds me of a time when everything was okay,” she explained as they headed back. Not to the machine shop, for some reason, but Clarissa had started to walk towards her quarters. “Back on Earth, when my family was still whole, when I didn’t need to worry about anything. My father had all the money in the world and there wasn’t a problem he couldn’t buy the solution for. Even illness wasn’t a problem when you could buy yourself a spot in the best hospital in the system.”

A frown appeared on Amos’s face as he turned towards Clarissa. “You realise how shallow that is, right? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure your parents loved you very much and all that shit, but did you actually appreciate any of that? Really? You needed a special holiday to be grateful for what you had?”

Clarissa stopped dead in her tracks and looked at him, clearly not understanding what he was trying to say. Amos should really try to find better words.

“It’s true, we can’t afford to send you to the best hospital in the system, but we’ve got the Roci right here and she’s doing her best to filter those chemicals out of your system. It could be worse. You could still be in the Pit and banging your head against the wall out of sheer boredom. We can’t offer you any fancy parties to organise, but you’re doing something that matters even more. You fix the ship and that keeps us alive. And we try to help others with the same ship that you fix. What Holden and Naomi do, trying to make the world a better place, trying to do the right thing, they couldn’t do that without people like you and me. They need us just like we need them and they’d die for us if they had to.”

She scoffed softly and shook her head.

“No, listen to me, Peaches. I don’t do a speech like this every day, but it’s true. Our backgrounds couldn’t be more different. I grew up in a dumpster and you in a fancy mansion, but we’re not that different. We take care of our people the way we can and in return, they take care of us. What we did in the past sucks, but we’re both here now and part of the crew. They’re our family now and I know it sounds harsh because it involved a lot of people dying, but every single day I feel glad that I ended up being here. And so should you. What the captain and Naomi and Babs and Alex would do for me, they’d also do for you. We’re family, the lot of us.”

At last, the confusion lifted from her face and she smiled again. “So, am I allowed to celebrate my favourite Earth tradition with my new, slightly dysfunctional family?”

Amos shrugged. “I’d consider us slightly less dysfunctional than your last one.”

They had finally reached the door of her quarters. As Clarissa hit the button and the door slid aside, her mouth suddenly dropped open at the spectacle in front of her eyes. Every corner of the small room was covered in fairy lights and ornaments and there was even one of the small, fake trees covering Clarissa’s desk.

She turned towards him, still gawking. “You did all this while I was in the machine shop?”

“Well, Cap and Naomi helped,” Amos argued. When Clarissa didn’t stop staring at him, he shrugged again. “What? I told you we’re all family.”

There she was, the Peaches he had observed during the last couple of days. Happy. Smiling. Grateful. Only now, Amos thought that the gratefulness would become a more permanent state. “Thank you,” she replied sincerely.

“Just because I don’t celebrate Christmas doesn’t mean I have to be an asshole about it,” he said. Then, his mind wandered back to what he had witnessed in the kitchen. “Hey, wanna go see if the Martians are done throwing food around? My bet is that Bobbie won.”

Clarissa giggled. “Bobbie definitely won.”


	6. Holden

**Holden**

Alex knew how to make a great lasagne, but he had never actually prepared a turkey before, so Holden had volunteered for kitchen duty. Admittedly, Holden also hadn’t prepared a turkey before, but orbiting Earth gave him the advantage of being close enough to home to have an actual call without lag.

“The turkey should be done,” his mother Elise said on the small screen after she had walked him through every single step of the cooking process. “Better check your oven.”

Holden gave one last smile into his terminal’s front camera and then bent down to check on the food that Avasarala had sent them. From the moment he opened the lid and the heavenly scent of fresh turkey hit his nose, he knew that asking mother Elise for advice was the best idea he could have had. She was a true miracle worker in the kitchen and even managed to guide someone as useless as him. The only thing in this kitchen that he could operate with confidence was the coffee maker.

Smiling proudly, he pulled the turkey out of the oven and held it up for his mother to see.

Mother Elise smiled at him in return. “I can almost smell it from here,” she replied kindly. “You’ve done well.”

“Thanks,” he said, trying not to blush. Now that the meal was prepared, Holden knew that it was time to hang up and it wasn’t as if he hadn’t used the opportunity to talk to every single one of his parents, but saying goodbye to them was always hard. Even more so on Christmas. “I kind of wish we could have all come down the well to celebrate Christmas with you. Naomi, Alex, the lot of them.”

His mother nodded, but her smile remained kind and understanding. “You know, we’ve been talking about a holiday on Luna. Maybe something can be arranged.”

Even though Holden knew it was unlikely to happen, he still smiled back. “Give them my love, will you?”

“Of course,” mother Elise said. “Have a Merry Christmas with your space family.”

When the connection ended, Holden thought his heart had grown a little heavier inside his chest, but then the voices started to become audible and it wasn’t long until Naomi, Alex, Amos, Clarissa and Bobbie walked into the galley.

“Holy shit, Cap, that smells great!” Amos exclaimed instantly and stepped closer, bending deep over the turkey he was holding. For a moment, Holden was afraid he was going to take a bite out of it right then and there. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

Holden chuckled. “Well, I can’t really. Mother Elise walked me through the steps,” he admitted. “But I think I did well for my first try.”

“More than that,” Alex confirmed, his eyes set on the meal. “I’d say it would be a shame to let it get cold.”

“Alright, alright.” Holden chuckled. “Everyone grab a fork.”

They all took a seat at the table, Holden and Naomi on one side, Amos and Clarissa on the other. Alex and Bobbie sat down on opposite ends of the table. It occurred to Holden that they weren’t exactly an odd bunch for a regular ship where Earthers and Martians and Belters often mixed for a couple of runs. But the Roci wasn’t an ordinary ship. Just like his mother Elise had said, they were a family. The best family Holden could have hoped to find out here. As he was looking around the table once more, taking in all of their faces, appreciating the fact that they were here together on Christmas Day, Holden noticed that they were all looking back at him expectantly.

“Merry Christmas,” he wished them.

“Merry Christmas!” Alex, Bobbie and Clarissa chimed in unison.

“Merry fucking Christmas!” Amos said. The broad smile on the mechanic’s face wasn’t directed at Holden. Instead, he was grinning at the turkey.

It was only then that he realised Naomi hadn’t said a word, so Holden turned his head to look at her. He had already feared the worst, knowing what she thought about this silly Earth tradition, but to Holden’s surprise, he found her smiling back at him.

“Merry Christmas,” she replied earnestly.

As they began to eat, Holden received many compliments for his cooking - and a comment from Naomi, stating that it could have used some more spices, but he knew better than to take the criticism seriously. There they were, his family, enjoying a wonderful Christmas together. Eating, chatting, laughing. After dinner, Bobbie and Alex showed off the Christmas cookies they had baked and Amos told the true story of how the Martians had made them, prompting laughter from everyone else until Alex started to blush. Even Clarissa came out of her shell, sharing a story about that time her sister Julie had received coal for Christmas and, out of revenge, had smeared it over the living room furniture. Somehow, Holden was reminded of Miller and thought that his old friend would have appreciated that tale. He wondered what Miller would have thought of their little Christmas celebration.

When they finally retreated for the night, Holden felt the sense of fulfilment - and that of a full belly. He placed his arms around Naomi and sighed.

“That was a lovely evening,” he said, still smiling in the darkness. Tonight, he would go to sleep, feeling nothing but content.

“Yes,” Naomi replied to his surprise. “You were right. I hate to admit it, but you were right. Christmas is nice.”

Holden chuckled. “I’d say _I told you so_ , but I somehow get the feeling you wouldn’t appreciate that.”

She pinched him between the ribs.

“Ow,” he complained half-heartedly.

“Definitely not appreciated,” Naomi said, then sighed. “But I get it now. I get why it means so much to you.”

Holden cocked his eyebrows even though she couldn’t see it. “So, um, there’s a chance we could do it again next year?”

Naomi cleared her throat in return. “We’ll have to see about that,” she responded sternly. “I still say these decorations are a hazard. Imagine what would happen if we suddenly needed to maneu-”

She didn’t have a chance to finish her sentence when Holden pressed his lips against hers in a kiss. For a moment, he thought she was going to complain and insist on giving him a health and safety lecture, but Naomi let it pass and instead, sank deeper into his arms. A wonderful day with the rest of his crew, a delicious turkey for dinner and going to sleep in the arms of the woman that he loved was everything he could have ever wanted for Christmas.


End file.
